


The Reason

by stellarmeadow



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-07
Updated: 2011-03-07
Packaged: 2017-10-16 04:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/168250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarmeadow/pseuds/stellarmeadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny has a question he's been wanting to ask Steve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Reason

**Author's Note:**

> I was watching that first meeting in the garage again this morning and was struck by the timing of Steve changing his mind about the task force. Which woke up my inner Danny. Thanks to chelseafrew for the editing help and the title (and listening to me babble about it)!

Danny lay on his back, his breath mostly recovered, sweat still cooling on his skin. The pillow was starting to warm against his cheek once more as he watched Steve, eyes closed, chest rising and falling steadily as if he hadn't just engaged in a rather heated, torrid, even, if Danny wanted to brag, round of sex. It was the only time other than in full two-seconds-from-going-badass mode that Steve was ever this still, even his eyes stopped scanning for any sign of danger, something they didn't do in the other waking 18-20 hours of the day, and Danny reveled in it, in being the one to make it happen.

It was also the best time to get answers from him, his usual reticence to offer only the occasional outburst of information in a heated moment replaced by that same stillness. Like the ocean had run into a little bay with none of the ferociousness of the sea. And Danny wasn't one to pass up a good opportunity.

"Something I've been meaning to ask," Danny said quietly, clearing his throat before continuing. " Why'd you take this job?"

He saw Steve blink before turning his head, a frown wrinkling the space between his eyebrows. "What?"

"That day in the garage. You told the Governor you'd found something that changed your mind."

Rapid-fire blinking. "The toolbox," Steve said, after a moment, head turning until he was staring up at the ceiling. "I had to pick up my father's investigation."

"Right, and you certainly couldn't do that as a Navy SEAL with the full resources of the US government behind you and a possible tie between that investigation and the man they'd had you chasing night and day for years. Of course. My mistake."

Steve wasn't blinking now, his eyes were as still as every other inch of his body. "I figured it would be easier here with the Governor backing me and less red tape."

Danny was nothing if not a good--no, an _excellent_ detective, thank you very much, and he didn't miss the slight upturn at the end of that sentence that made it almost sound like a question. "Yes, I am familiar with your normal adherence to red tape that I'm sure you followed every bit as much in the military as you do here."

He saw the tightening of Steve's jaw as his lips thinned, followed by a tiny sniff that let Danny know he was oh-so-close to an answer, because the only things he could read better than a suspect were his daughter and Steve McGarrett. "Five years, a thousand and one leads, and crack teams, and Hesse was still ahead of me," he said slowly, almost as if he was just figuring it out for himself. "The military was only going to get me so far."

Close, yes, but still not really an answer. "I'm not following."

And there it was, the closed eyes, the quick exhalation, the drop in Steve's shoulders--every sign of capitulation that Danny knew better than to grin at in victory. "I needed someone good, someone smart, someone who could help me make the connections, who could move at my pace and to hell with whatever red tape or other barriers were in the way," he said finally, turning his head to look at Danny once more. "I needed a partner, not a SEAL team."

Danny knew he was smirking now, but he tried to hide it. Well, he tried a little. "I seemed like a loose cannon who was going to barrel right through red tape? At what point did I seem like a non-red-tape kinda guy? Was it when I was lecturing you about the rules of police procedure and how they involved you not being involved in the case?"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, did I miss the section in the police procedure handbook on forsaking backup in favor of threats of an ambulance?"

"Seriously? That made you think I was some sort of renegade cop with no concern for procedure?"

He pretended to consider that for a second. "No," he admitted, "but it showed definite promise."

Danny sighed. "You are certifiably insane, you know that, right?"

"So you keep reminding me." Steve smiled. "I do notice you have yet to give me an actual number of a therapist."

"I just haven't found one that can handle your high level of crazy yet."

A huff and an eye roll that didn't quite match the smile Steve still wore was combined with, "Let me know when that search pans out."

"Don't worry," Danny said, giving Steve's wrist a squeeze, "I will."  
\----  
END

**Author's Note:**

> Want to learn more about me and my writing? Visit my page at <http://www.jamiemeadowswrites.com/>


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